Caroline Reboux
Encyclopedia
Caroline Reboux was a well known Parisian milliner and French fashion designer. She had white hair and a "girlish" look.
Reboux made an art form out of high fashion hats which were re-emerging in France to supplant the bonnet
in the mid-19th century. She promoted the hat as an essential accessory for women's fashion.
Like many of her customers, Reboux was self-invented: she put it about that she was the fourth child of an impoverished noblewoman and a man of letters, who was orphaned and came to Paris to live.
and her hat designs ranked at the same level as that custom fashion.
Reboux opened a shop at 9, avenue Matignon, Paris, in 1865 where she worked throughout her life. Retaining this shop as her base, she opened other stores in Paris and London. She assisted others that she trained to open shops in New York and Chicago. She was known for over fifty years as the queen of creative fashion hats. Her designs were as much sought after as those of Charles Frederick Worth
, considered the father of haute couture
.
Reboux was the first person in fashion design
to add a veil to a woman’s hat and launched it in the 1920s. She also started the vogue of colored veils. Reboux made many fashionable hats for the theater.
Reboux is the creator of the cloche hat
and popularized it in the 1920s.Litoff, p. 69 She designed the unstructured felt hat which first appeared in the 1920s. Reboux would create the hat by placing a length of felt on a customer's head and then cutting and folding it to shape. She was always one of the leading exponents of the form.
Reboux also did innovative unique models up-dating past modes such as the large-brimmed straws known as Gainsborough hats, and the turban-like toques in the manner of Mme Vigée-Lebrun's sitters.
Reboux worked with most of the major fashion designers of Europe and provided women hats for their design collections. A notable business practice of Reboux was to divide half the profits of her business among the head cashier, the forewoman, the directress of the workroom, and the head manager. Reboux was appointed to represent Parisian commerce at the Paris World’s Fair of 1900
. During Reboux's life she maintained a great friendship with the fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet
. The Caroline Reboux business finally closed its doors in 1956. More than 300 creations by Reboux are preserved at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile
in Paris.
Marlene Dietrich
was a faithful customer of Reboux, from whom she bought her trademark beret
s, which had never been worn by women before. The exhibition of Marlene Dietrich "Birth of a Myth" was held at the fashion museum Musée Galliera
(Paris) in 2003 exhibing fashions of Reboux. There are today headdresses signed "Caroline Reboux" in the vitrines
devoted to Marlene Dietrich at the Deutsche Kinemathek
film museum of Berlin. Many famous designers of fashion of the 20th century were trained by Reboux.
Reboux creations from the 1860s attracted the attention of Princess Pauline von Metternich and the Empress Eugénie
. The famous American milliner Lilly Dache
trained under Reboux for five years. Elsa Triolet
was also a regular store customer on Avenue Matignon, sometimes accompanied by Louis Aragon
.
outfit and a hat by Reboux at her wedding to the former king of England, Edward VIII at the Château Candé, Monts, June 3, 1937.
Reboux's business continued leadership under Mme. Lucienne after her death in 1927. The shop was well known for making the head-fitting felt cloche the status symbol of fashion for many years. The shop was famous for making hats that were noted for profile brims, dipping low on one side, forward-tilt tricorns, open-crown lamé turbans, and flower bandeaus.
and published in 1927: « Anna de la Trave was wearing an overcoat of light grey cloth and a felt hat without ribbon or trimming of any sort ('though,' said Madame de la Trave, 'it costs more like that than the hats we used to have with all those feathers and aigrettes. But, of course, it's the very finest quality felt from Lailhala's — a Reboux model.') »
Reboux made an art form out of high fashion hats which were re-emerging in France to supplant the bonnet
Bonnet (headgear)
Bonnets are a variety of headgear for both sexes, which have in common only the absence of a brim. Bonnet derives from the same word in French, where it originally indicated a type of material...
in the mid-19th century. She promoted the hat as an essential accessory for women's fashion.
Like many of her customers, Reboux was self-invented: she put it about that she was the fourth child of an impoverished noblewoman and a man of letters, who was orphaned and came to Paris to live.
Queen of the milliners
Reboux, the "Queen of the Milliners." made a name for herself in millinery in the later part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century in Europe and the United States. She employed as many as 150 workwomen at any one time. She is also closely associated with the origins of haute coutureHaute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
and her hat designs ranked at the same level as that custom fashion.
Reboux opened a shop at 9, avenue Matignon, Paris, in 1865 where she worked throughout her life. Retaining this shop as her base, she opened other stores in Paris and London. She assisted others that she trained to open shops in New York and Chicago. She was known for over fifty years as the queen of creative fashion hats. Her designs were as much sought after as those of Charles Frederick Worth
Charles Frederick Worth
Charles Frederick Worth , widely considered the Father of Haute couture, was an English fashion designer of the 19th century, whose works were produced in Paris.-Career:...
, considered the father of haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
.
Reboux was the first person in fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
to add a veil to a woman’s hat and launched it in the 1920s. She also started the vogue of colored veils. Reboux made many fashionable hats for the theater.
Reboux is the creator of the cloche hat
Cloche hat
The cloche hat is a fitted, bell-shaped hat for women that was invented by milliner Caroline Reboux in 1908, became especially popular during the 1920s, and continued to be commonly seen until about 1933. Cloche is the French word for "bell"....
and popularized it in the 1920s.Litoff, p. 69 She designed the unstructured felt hat which first appeared in the 1920s. Reboux would create the hat by placing a length of felt on a customer's head and then cutting and folding it to shape. She was always one of the leading exponents of the form.
Reboux also did innovative unique models up-dating past modes such as the large-brimmed straws known as Gainsborough hats, and the turban-like toques in the manner of Mme Vigée-Lebrun's sitters.
Reboux worked with most of the major fashion designers of Europe and provided women hats for their design collections. A notable business practice of Reboux was to divide half the profits of her business among the head cashier, the forewoman, the directress of the workroom, and the head manager. Reboux was appointed to represent Parisian commerce at the Paris World’s Fair of 1900
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
. During Reboux's life she maintained a great friendship with the fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet
Madeleine Vionnet
This article is about the haute couture designer. For the fashion label, see Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet was a French fashion designer...
. The Caroline Reboux business finally closed its doors in 1956. More than 300 creations by Reboux are preserved at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile
Musée de la Mode et du Textile
The Musée de la Mode et du Textile is a museum of fashion and textiles located in the Louvre in the Ier arrondissement, 107, rue de Rivoli, Paris, France...
in Paris.
Famous clients
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
was a faithful customer of Reboux, from whom she bought her trademark beret
Beret
A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....
s, which had never been worn by women before. The exhibition of Marlene Dietrich "Birth of a Myth" was held at the fashion museum Musée Galliera
Musée Galliera
The Musée Galliera, also known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, is a fashion museum located in the 16th arrondissement at 10, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, Paris, France. It is open daily except Tuesdays; an admission fee is charged....
(Paris) in 2003 exhibing fashions of Reboux. There are today headdresses signed "Caroline Reboux" in the vitrines
Display case
A display case is a cabinet with one or often more transparent glass sides and/or top, used to display objects for viewing, for example in an exhibition, museum, house, in retail, or a restaurant. Often labels are included with the displayed objects, providing information...
devoted to Marlene Dietrich at the Deutsche Kinemathek
Deutsche Kinemathek
Die Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen is a major German film archive, based in Berlin. Until the opening of a permanent display on television in the Filmmuseum Berlin on 1 June 2006, it was known as the Deutsche Kinemathek....
film museum of Berlin. Many famous designers of fashion of the 20th century were trained by Reboux.
Reboux creations from the 1860s attracted the attention of Princess Pauline von Metternich and the Empress Eugénie
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...
. The famous American milliner Lilly Dache
Lilly Daché
Lilly Daché was a French milliner and fashion designer.She was born in Bègles, Gironde, France, and began her fashion career there at the age of 15 as a milliner, apprenticed under Caroline Reboux and Suzanne Talbot. Although she is said to have emigrated to the United States in 1924, the 1930 U.S...
trained under Reboux for five years. Elsa Triolet
Elsa Triolet
Elsa Yur'evna Triolet was a French writer.-Biography:Born Ella Kagan into a Jewish family of a lawyer and a music teacher in Moscow, she and her sister, Lilya Brik received excellent educations; they were able to speak fluent German and French and play the piano...
was also a regular store customer on Avenue Matignon, sometimes accompanied by Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
.
After death
Wallis Warfield Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, wore a blue MainbocherMainbocher
Mainbocher is a fashion label founded by the American couturier Main Rousseau Bocher , also known as Mainbocher. Established in 1929, the house of Mainbocher successfully operated in Paris and then in New York...
outfit and a hat by Reboux at her wedding to the former king of England, Edward VIII at the Château Candé, Monts, June 3, 1937.
Reboux's business continued leadership under Mme. Lucienne after her death in 1927. The shop was well known for making the head-fitting felt cloche the status symbol of fashion for many years. The shop was famous for making hats that were noted for profile brims, dipping low on one side, forward-tilt tricorns, open-crown lamé turbans, and flower bandeaus.
Reboux in fiction
The name 'Reboux' is mentioned in Thérèse Desqueyroux, a novel written by François MauriacFrançois Mauriac
François Mauriac was a French author; member of the Académie française ; laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature . He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur .-Biography:...
and published in 1927: « Anna de la Trave was wearing an overcoat of light grey cloth and a felt hat without ribbon or trimming of any sort ('though,' said Madame de la Trave, 'it costs more like that than the hats we used to have with all those feathers and aigrettes. But, of course, it's the very finest quality felt from Lailhala's — a Reboux model.') »